Love Over Words and Sweets
by Nessa.JJoy
Summary: Bella Swan is a recent college graduate who opens a store with her best friend, Alice. What happens when sexy construction worker, Edward, walks in?


**I do not own twilight, nor anything associated with it. I do, however, own this plot ;)  
>Beta'd by PTB.<strong>

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><p>Love Over Words and Sweets<br>Chapter 1: Excuse me?

"_Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence." –Helen Keller  
><em>

We were finally here. After one long year of planning, re-planning, building, and decorating, we were here. If there was one word I would use to describe this past year, it would be hectic.

My best friend Alice and I met when I was a freshman at college. I was eighteen, while she was twenty-one. We were total polar opposites, both with our looks and our personality, but somehow, together, we fit. While I am 5'4'' with long dark brown hair and brown eyes, Alice is 5'2'' with short black hair and clear blue eyes.I studied business; she studied culinary arts. I love to read and learn. She loves to shop and bake. And so on.

The one thing we do have in common, though, is what brought us here today.

Ever since I was little, books have been my passion. Whenever someone would see me, it would always be with a book in my hand. That's not to say I was introverted or an outcast, quite the opposite really. I just loved to read, and I would read whatever I could get my hands on. Even in high school, I was in the reading club. Geeky? Maybe. But I also played sports, which kept me fairly popular.

That's why, when I graduated with my degree in business, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to open my own bookstore. However, there was one small…well, actually big problem. I didn't have the funds. Even though I had worked through college and saved up some money, it was nowhere near what I needed. Sure, I could have taken out a loan, but I had survived college without one, so I wanted to try to get through this without one, too.

This is where Alice comes in.

While she was studying for her degree in culinary arts, she found that baking satisfied her the most. She had tried working in a few restaurants as a chef, but she just wasn't enjoying herself. Her motto in life is to "do what makes you happy," which is why, merely two years after she graduated, she quit. Then about one month after my graduation, she came to me with a proposal.

She wanted to open her own bakery but didn't know how to manage the business end. She knew I wanted to open my own bookstore, but I didn't have the funds. So, she came up with a solution. We would open a joint business together- I would run the business side, and Alice would supply the funds. I was hesitant at first, because I knew it would cost a lot of money, but eventually, I caved. Who would give up the chance of a lifetime?

So for the next few weeks, we planned exactly what we wanted done. Then, we hired someone to draw up some layouts and blueprints for us. Sounds simple, right? I thought so, too, at first. In reality, that took the most time out of everything to accomplish. I guess you could say that Alice and I went a bit crazy, but nothing seemed right. Nothing seemed to scream "us."

Finally, after about two months, the design was perfect. There would be two floors, which would be divided down the center to give us each our own space. The bookstore and the bakery would be connected by the wall between our stores, which would be partly opened, so that customers could travel in between.

The second floor on my side, which you would enter by a staircase behind the checkout, would hold my office, my storage area, and a small bathroom. The lower level would house the actual store and would have sections for the children's, teen, and adult books. The children's section would be in the back to the right, while the adult section would be separated off by a wall with an entranceway, and would take up the whole left side.

Alice's shop, however, would be arranged quite differently. On the bottom floor, she would have the entrance—obviously— and the checkout, with a shelf covered in glass for display that would run the length of the back wall. There would also be shelves, stands, and such, where she would lay out her baked goods to be sold. The upstairs would house the kitchen, office, and a bathroom.

Fast forward to eight months later, and everything was built, installed, and decorated. My bookstore was painted and decorated with colours such as white, green, and brown: all natural. Alice's bakery, however, was decorated with colours such as baby blue, light green, and bubble-gum pink. As I mentioned earlier, we are total opposites.

Now here we are on July 2nd, 2011- opening day. We'd worked long, hard hours, but we finally managed to get everything done and finished. In two short hours, our shops would be officially opened.

Alice and I stand outside, just taking in all of our hard work. We look over the storefront, and I can't help but smile. _My dream come true_, I think to myself. When I look up and spot the sign on top, which displays the name of our business, I know I'm right.

_The Sweetness of Words_

Coming up with the actual name of the store took a long time. Sooner or later though, we came to an agreement. We wanted something that would work well for both of our shops separately, as well as a whole. The idea for the name of our store actually came from my sister, Rosalie. She is a couple years older than I am and works as an editor at a book firm with Alice's husband, Jasper.

I'll definitely be thankful to her for coming up with that name, because Alice was beginning to drive me crazy with her ideas. You wouldn't believe the kind of imagination she has.

"You ready?" Alice questions.

I look at her, standing beside me, and then I look back at the store. I blow out a deep breath, still a bit blown away that we're here, but thankful that we are. I look back at her and answer, "As ready as I'll ever be."

_Two And A Half Hours Later_

You would not believe the amount of people that are here. Sure, our stores are actually fairly large and can hold a lot of people, but I have to admit, I'm starting to feel a bit claustrophobic. Both Alice and I opened half an hour ago, and since then it's been a steady stream of people, coming and going. Yes, it's good for business, but jeez, I'm starting to get a headache already. I'm just glad I decided to hire some help; otherwise I'd be dead by now. Even with Kate working here too, it's still very busy.

By the end of the day, I'm worn out and ready to lie in bed for the next twenty-four hours. Unfortunately, I can't do that, seeing as we open at 9:00am, but it's a nice thought. When everything started slowing down about an hour ago, I decided I could handle the store on my own and told Kate she could leave. After all, she had worked almost twelve hours today. We were so busy that we didn't even get time for a lunch break, but I suppose having a bakery next to you is a benefit. We just grabbed a few treats from there and ate when we could.

It's 8:50 pm at the moment, and both Alice and I will be closing in a few minutes. I definitely want to go home and rest, but I can't deny how happy I am right now. Here I am, twenty-two years old, and I'm essentially running my own business: a good one at that. I know, though, that after the first few weeks, things will calm down, so I shouldn't go overboard with anything.

I look around the shop, and I notice that it's empty, so I decide closing a few minutes early won't do any harm. If someone really wants to come in, there is an entrance through Alice's shop, after all. After locking up everything in the store, I head over to where Alice is.

"Alice, d—''

As soon as I see her, I can't speak and I start laughing. There she is, standing behind the counter, covered in flour. She glares at me when I laugh, which just makes me laugh harder.

"Bella, shut the hell up and come help me already," she tells me, annoyed.

I close my mouth tightly, trying to stop from laughing, and ask her what happened.

She looks at me through narrowed eyes, contemplating whether or not to tell me. Eventually though, she just huffs and explains, "Jazz and I were upstairs a few minutes ago."

"And?" I prompt.

"We were fooling around, and Jessica comes upstairs to tell me I'm needed downstairs. Problem is, we didn't hear her until she squealed like a little pig when she saw us. Next thing you know, Jazz drops me on the counter, and it's snowing everywhere."

My mouth drops open in shock, and then the laughter starts again.

"I can't believe you, Alice, " I tell her through chuckles. "This is what you get for sneaking away on opening day."

She just rolls her eyes at me and mutters, "Yeah, yeah."

"So…was it worth it?" I question cheekily.

Her mouth opens in shock, and then she starts laughing with me. "You little whore."

"Hey, you're the one who got caught getting frisky."

"Don't say that. That makes me sound old!"

I laugh, knowing she's right. But I can't help but tease her. She crosses her arms over her chest and exclaims, "He's my husband. What do you expect?"

I raise my eyebrow, knowing she's going to kill me for this.

"Oh, I don't know. Save the sexin' for at home… or is that why you did it here? Does Jazz get off on being watched, Alice?"

She opens her mouth to respond, with something I sure is not suitable for those under the age of eighteen, when the bell over the door rings, signaling a customer.

She just glares at me and mouths, "You will pay for that."

I just giggle, because it's totally worth it.

"Get back here and watch the store while I go change," she orders me.

"Sure thing, boss," I reply, saluting her.

She rolls her eyes at me but can't help the smile that starts to show.

I go around to the other side of the counter while she goes upstairs, and I look at the customer. I didn't even look at him when the bell rang, but now…Oh. My. Fuck.

He is without a doubt the hottest man I have ever seen. He walks up to the counter where I am, and I can't help but ogle him. He's sexy as hell and dirty. Literally dirty. Both his shirt, which I'm sure was white at one point, and his jeans are covered in dirt. He has on a fucking hard hat and tool belt which just makes him look even sexier. With his hair hanging out on the sides, and the tool belt framing his hips…hanging down there. I can just feel the drool in my mouth already.

"Excuse me?"

I look up, startled; Somehow, while I was eye-fucking him, he managed to come right up in front of me without me noticing.

When I look up at him, I am not disappointed either. Up close, he looks even better. I can see the dirt smudges along his face… his jaw, but holy hell, his eyes make me want to strip right there. He has total, hot, bedroom eyes. I have a feeling that if he took off that hard hat, his hair would be like that too.

"Excuse me?" he repeats. I blink, and I can feel myself flush. While I'm no stranger to hot men, it's totally obvious what I was just thinking about. When I catch his cocky smirk, I know he knows what I'm thinking about. He definitely caught me eye-fucking him.

"Can I help you?" I ask, trying to play it cool. Well, as cool as you can after being caught checking a guy out for who knows how long.

"Can I get a feel of your tits?" he whispers sexily, staring in my eyes.

I feel my face flush again, and my mouth drops open in shock. He couldn't have just said that…could he?

"Excuse me?" I stutter, breathing heavily.

"I said, can I get some of your tulip lips?" he repeats, confused, pointing at one of Alice's pink cupcakes.

I shake my head at myself, cursing Alice for naming it that.

"How many?" I ask, trying to distract myself from my thoughts.

"Two, and can I fuck you?" he asks breathlessly.

My eyes are bulging out of my head right now, and I have no doubt that I'm going crazy. I close my eyes tightly, willing my brain to Shut. The. Fuck. Up.

"What did you just say?" I ask him.

"Two, and can I also get some fudge too?"

Now he's staring at me like I'm crazy, and I can't blame him. He's just asking for some damn sweets, and here I am having naughty fantasies about him. I can just imagine what he would do if he knew what I was thinking. He would probably run for the hills and not come back. Hell, I would too.

"Sure."

While grabbing his order, I take a peek at him and I catch him looking at me, or more specifically, my ass. Surely he wasn't…checking me out, was he? No, there's no way. I must be mistaken.

I grab his order and place everything in a bag, after totaling up the prices.

"That'll be $7.50," I tell him distractedly. I know if I look at him again, I'm a goner. There's no telling what I'll say…or do.

He gives me the money, and I hand him back his change. When I do this, his fingers brush against mine gently and I gasp slightly. He goes to take his bag off the counter but seems to change his mind at the last minute. Instead, he leans on the counter beside it and looks at me.

"Uhm, yes?" I ask, flustered.

He smiles crookedly at me and just keeps staring at me. "Would you like to go out sometime?"

I blink my eyes a couple of times…sure that I'm just having a fantasy again. As if he would really ask me out after how crazy I've been acting since we met.

"Well?" he prompts, after a minute of silence. It's then that I realize that he did just ask me out. And I haven't answered him.

I open my mouth to respond, but I'm cut off by the ringing of a cell phone. I look down at mine, only to realize I left mine over in my store. I look up and see him take his phone out of his back pocket.

"I have to take this. Do you mind?" I shake my head at him, slightly dazed, and tell him to go ahead.

"Think about what I asked," he says, winking at me before he answers the call.

Holy. Fuck.

There's no doubt that I want to go out with him. I mean, who wouldn't want to? He's sexy as fuck, and if he's asking me out after how crazy I've acted, he deserves a gold star.

"Yeah, I'll be there soon, Emily. I love you too." I hear him say.

No.

Fucking.

Way.

This asshole has a girlfriend, who he's supposedly going to meet, and he thinks he can ask me out? How stupid can some guys get? Oh that's right. Mr. I'm So Sexy probably thinks he can have every girl he wants. No way, asshole.

He walks back over to the counter and smirks at me. "So, what do you think?"

Excuse me?

If he thought I was crazy before, well, I can't imagine what he's going to think once I'm through with him.

I actually feel sorry for him, kind of …maybe…not so much.

No guy does this shit and gets away with it.

He's in for a lesson.

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><p><strong>So, any thoughts? Also,chapters will be between 3k-5k words.<strong>

**This story will update every Saturday beginning next week. **

**Since today is my birthday though, I thought it would be nice to get this started :) So lemme know what you think.**


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